Fantasy Football Two Minute Drill, Week 15

I was the number one seed with only one loss on the season. I scored the fourth most points last week… and I was upset by the eighth seed who scored the third most points. Final score: 133-132. Maybe a Thursday Elias scoring change… nope, still a loss.

If one of these things happen, I win:

Mario Manningham doesn’t let a ball go right through his hands, thus giving Eli Manning another TD.
Ray Rice doesn’t fumble in the fourth quarter.
Jason Witten is more involved in the offense, which not only helps his stats but also helps my strong-side linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka.
Justin Tuck doesn’t suck.
I have the guts to start the Houston Offensive Line over the Titans Offensive Line.
Darian Stewart doesn’t get beast-moded by Marshawn Lynch on the final drive of the first half.
Marion Barber doesn’t fumble in overtime, which gets Robbie Gould another FG.
Patrick Willis doesn’t blow a hammy, which puts him on my bench and allows my opponent to use Larry Grant.
My opponent doesn’t take a risk by starting Jason Worilds.
The Giants’ soft defense doesn’t allow Miles Austin to get 2 Receptions for 55 Yards on the Cowboys’ final drive.

While the above could make me feel better, it doesn’t because it’s not real. Well, it’s real in the fact that it’s all true, but it’s not a good mindset. There are billions of alternatives, and you shouldn’t go through fantasy football (and life) like that. No regrets, accept this current dimension, and move forward.

Hey, in my other league I was the eighth seed who upset the one seed, so that helps. Too bad I have no running back so it will take another miracle to keep on truckin’. That’s not an exaggeration, I literally have no RB.

Fantasy Football stats, news, and opinions heading into NFL Week 15.

Check out my Individual Defensive Player ( DL, LB, DB ) rankings alongside other experts at FantasyPros.com

“Points Allowed” provided by MyFantasyLeague.com

Points Allowed per Week Trending Tool

Jacksonville 14, Atlanta 41

Focusing on this article was more important than watching this snooze-fest.

Dallas at Tampa Bay

Lost in QB Tony Romo’s over-throw (and defensive collapse) last week was a tremendous fantasy game. He’s got a ton of weapons.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Buccaneers give up the most fantasy points to running backs. The stars have aligned for Felix Jones. Definitely don’t bench a proven RB over him, but he’s a great option this week.
I said it last week and I’ll say it loudly this week: Keep starting WR Laurent Robinson.
Despite his low stats, I noticed WR Miles Austin on the screen often.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Buccaneers give up the fifth most fantasy points to cornerbacks. Terrence Newman is a possibility, and you get to watch him on the primetime game.
TE Jason Witten, past three games: 12 Receptions, 16 Targets, 102 Receiving Yards, zero touchdowns.
LB Demarcus Ware’s tackle numbers are limiting his impact potential.
I thought the Buccaneers were on the upside of their rebuilding plan. Losing 41-14 to the Jaguars should force ownership to re-evaluate everything.
RB LeGarrette Blount is averaging 15 Rushes over his past six games. No way he reaches the average this week.
RookieDEAdrian Clayborn has at least a half sack in four consecutive games.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Cowboys give up the sixth most fantasy points to cornerbacks. Stock up Ronde Barber and Aqib Talib (if he’s active).

Carolina at Houston

Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Texans give up the fourth fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. Stock down Cam Newton.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Texans give up the third fewest fantasy points to running backs. Stock down Jonathan Stewart. Bench DeAngelo Williams, but when you do this is what happens.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Texans give up the fifth fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Stock down Steve Smith.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Texans give up the third fewest fantasy points to tight ends. Stock down Greg Olsen and Jeremy Shockey.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Texans give up the fifth fewest fantasy points to defensive ends. Stock down Charles Johnson.
Nice job rookie QB Taylor Yates. However, you shouldn’t be using him unless you own QB’s Matt Cassel and Jay Cutler.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Panthers give up the second most fantasy points to running backs. If you survived last week, Arian Foster will reward you. Consider Ben Tate only in the deepest leagues.
TE Owen Daniels had his first 100-yard games since Week 7, 2009. Try not to get carried away.
TE Joel Dreessen has a touchdown in six of his past eight games.

Washington at NY Giants

Past 6 weeks, Points Allowed: Giants have moved from 25th to 3rd in fantasy points given up to quarterbacks. Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo, Rex Grossman. Yes, the Giants’ defense is average (at best), but use discretion when it comes to Rex. He’s clearly not in that class of quarterbacks.
Rookie RB Roy Helu is on pace to be Re-Draft waiver claim of the year. You don’t win cash in Week 6. You win cash in the fantasy playoffs.
Past 4 weeks, Points Allowed: Giants have moved from 15th to 3rd in fantasy points given up to wide receivers. Stock up Santana Moss and Jabar Gaffney.
LB Perry Riley had the benefit of great match-ups since his promotion, but he still excelled last week in a lousy match-up.
LB Brian Orakpo, past five games: 9 Solos, 8 Assists, 0.5 Sacks, 2 PD’s.
Football is 60 minutes. Never panic at halftime when you own QB Eli Manning.
RB Ahmad Bradshaw owners, so sorry if you were burned by violation of team rules. RB Brandon Jacobs took the opportunity to get into the groove.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Redskins give up the fourth most fantasy points to tight ends. Start Jake Ballard.
WR Mario Manningham = WR Robinson. He has value even with limited snaps.
DE Jason Pierre-Paul has already passed DE’s Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora for most feared Giants’ pass rusher. That wasn’t supposed to happen for a few years.
Speaking of Tuck, his super power is invisibility. Not because the Cowboys’ offensive line couldn’t see him, but because the television audience was unable to find him.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Redskins give up the third most fantasy points to linebackers. Start Michael Boley and Mathias Kiwanuka.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Redskins give up the second most fantasy points to safeties. Consider Antrel Rolle is you have a weak secondary.

Miami at Buffalo

Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Bills give up the fourth most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Start up Matt Moore if his head checks out fine and if the weather permits.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Bills give up the fourth most fantasy points to running backs. Stock up Reggie Bush, who’s flirting with Top 12 RB status.
On September 1, how many sacks did you want out of LB Cameron Wake? He’s on pace for eight. You paid for more.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Bills give up the fourth most fantasy points to cornerbacks. Sean Smith and Vontae Davis are good options in IDP-only leagues.
PFW’s Audibles sums it up perfectly: “You never negotiate when a guy has all the leverage”. Awful pick-6 by QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Dolphins give up the fourth fewest fantasy points to running backs. C.J. Spiller rushing attempts over the past three games: 19, 14, 12. The trend is going the wrong way for fantasy owners. Seek alternatives this week.
WR Steve Johnson is back in rhythm.
You deserve the goose egg if you started WR Brad Smith last week. It’s freaking Brad Smith.
DB Bryan Scott made for a sensible play last week as he was up against TE Antonio Gates, but it’s never easy to figure out his role. I give you credit if you had the guts to use him.

Seattle at Chicago

QB Tavaris Jackson is an excellent back-up quarterback in real life.
RB Marshawn Lynch is Value Draft Pick of the Year. And don’t give me RB Fred Jackson because he’s missing your fantasy playoffs.
How was rookie WR Doug Baldwin undrafted?
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Bears give up the fourth most fantasy points to defensive ends. Stock up Chris Clemons.
Past 3 weeks, Points Allowed: Bears have moved from 29th to 18th in fantasy points given up to linebackers. Stock up David Hawthorne and Leroy Hill. K.J. Wright has been solid the past two games, so perhaps he’s an option for you.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Bears give up the fewest fantasy points to cornerbacks. Bench Brandon Browner and Richard Sherman.
DB Earl Thomas hasn’t had more than four solos since Week 10. That span includes a total of zero PD’s.
RB Marion Barber’s brain fart and fumble shouldn’t take away from his fantasy stats. He’s the only Bear that should be used (unless you own WR Devin Hester in leagues rewarding points for special team yardage).
The Seahawks’ O-line is almost as bad as the Bears. Expect great numbers from DE Julius Peppers.
LB Lance Briggs hasn’t had a bad game since Week 6.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Seahawks give up the third fewest fantasy points to cornerbacks. Stock down Charles Tillman. Bench Tim Jennings.
DB Craig Steltz has girly hair like QB Curtis Painter. Regardless, he’s on the fantasy radar.

New Orleans at Minnesota

Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Vikings give up the most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Your fantasy spread gets a huge bump with Drew Brees.
No rookie RB Mark Ingram, and RB Pierre Thomas gets a measly six carries. Six receptions are nice, but c’mon, six carries!
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Vikings give up the fifth most fantasy points to wide receivers. Stock up Marques Colston. Lance Moore and Robert Meachem are useful.
A gimpy Jimmy Graham is still better than 90% of all tight ends.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Vikings give up the most fantasy points to kick/punt returners. Huge bonus for RB Darren Sproles.
Past 3 weeks, Points Allowed: Vikings have moved from 20th to 11th in fantasy points given up to linebackers. Jonathan Vilma ticked off the fantsy world with his awful Week 14. I bet current Vilma owners refuse to draft him again. I still don’t recommend Jo-Lunn Dunbar despite his numbers last week.
DB Malcolm Jenkins has at least 6 Solos plus PD’s in seven of his past nine games.
Past 6 weeks, Points Allowed: Saints have moved from 17th to 5th in fantasy points given up to quarterbacks. The Vikings have to go back to Christian Ponder, despite Joe Webb’s gazelle-like stride.
I doubt you survived without RB Adrian Peterson. If you did, it appears he’ll apologize by being active.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Saints give up the second most fantasy points to wide receivers. Stock up Percy Harvin.
TE Visanthe Shiancoe has 7 Targets in consecutive games. It’s at least an opportunity.
Past 3 weeks, Points Allowed: Saints have moved from 14th to 24th in fantasy points given up to defensive ends. Stock down Jared Allen.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Saints give up the fourth fewest fantasy points to linebackers. Stock down Chad Greenway. Bench E.J. Henderson.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Saints give up the most fantasy points to cornerbacks. Cedric Griffin is benched, and it’s impossible to recommend anyone else.

Cincinnati at St. Louis

Rookie QB Andy Dalton has at least one TD in every game but one. Don’t be scared off by his last two games; they’ve come against tough defenses.
You’ve made it this far with RB Cedric Benson. Now your faith will be rewarded with match-ups against the Rams and Cardinals.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Rams give up the fewest fantasy points to tight ends. Stock down Jermaine Gresham.
DE Michael Johnson has s sack in consecutive games and this is a great match-up, but I don’t advise rolling with him.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Rams give up the second most fantasy points to linebackers. Stock up Rey Maualuga. Also check out Thomas Howard who’s coming off a great game.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Rams give up the second fewest fantasy points to safeties. If you still own Reggie Nelson, bench him.
St. Louismanagement better hope QB Sam Bradford’s 2011 season is due to injuries and/or offensive line woes, and not mental regression.
Chirs “Mad Dog” Russo made a great comment about RB Steven Jackson. Paraphrasing, he said he’s a good running back, but his 8-yard runs are 40-yard runs for speedy backs.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Bengals give up the second fewest fantasy points to defensive ends. Stock down Chris Long.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Bengals give up the sixth fewest fantasy points to linebackers. Stock down James Laurinaitis. Bench Chris Chamberlain.
We got to watch DB Darian Stewart in a primetime game. He’s a big hitter that was constantly on the screen. Remember him in your 2012 draft, but as always, never draft defensive backs high.

Tennessee at Indianapolis

He’s only had two meaningful appearances, but QB Jake Locker has impressed me.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Colts give up the third most fantasy points to running backs. Stock up Chris Johnson.
Boom or Bust: WR Nate Washington.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Colts give up the second fewest fantasy points to linebackers. Stock down rookie Colin McCarthy. Rookie LB Akeem Ayers streak of at least 4 Solos plus PD’s in five consecutive games should end this week.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Colts give up the fewest fantasy points to safeties. The defensive back rotation is hurting Jordan Babineaux and Chris Hope. Both should be on the waiver wire. Bench Michael Griffin.
If “Tebowing” is an official word, then so should “Peytoning”. That’s when a player is crippled by injury and it destroys the fantasy value of every player around him.
Anyone else notice how bad RB Joseph Addai has been lately? See “Peytoning”.
Boom or Bust: WR Pierre Garcon.
Reminder to curse out WR Reggie Wayne before kickoff. See “Peytoning”.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Titans give up the fewest fantasy points to linebackers. Stock down Pat Angerer. Ignore Philip Wheeler this week.

Green Bay at Kansas City

Even if the coaches give QB Aaron Rodgers a quarter or two off, his stats are still better than everyone else.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Chiefs give up the sixth most fantasy points to running backs. No James Starks and no impact from rookie Brandon Saine means Ryan Grant has tremendous value again. John Kuhn can be an emergency option option.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Chiefs give up the fourth fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Without Greg Jennings, James Jones gets an immediate upgrade in value, but this is a tough match-up. Believe the TE Jermichael Finley hoopla when you see it with your own eyes.
Whispers say you’re not getting LB Desmond Bishop anytime soon. Keep relying on LB D.J. Smith.
DB Morgan Burnett has shed his enourmous cast, and his stats are up.
Hopefully QB Kyle Orton will make it to at least two plays this week.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Packers give up the fourth most fantasy points to wide receivers. Stock up Dwayne Bowe and Steve Breaston.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Packers give up the third fewest fantasy points to linebackers. Stock down Derrick Johnson.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Packers give up the third fewest fantasy points to safeties. Amazing considering the efficiency of Rodgers. That tells me Rodgers is using his eyes to move the safeties away from his intended receiver so they’re never in position to make a tackle or PD. Stock down Kendrick Lewis and Jon McGraw.

Detroit at Oakland

Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Raiders give up the fifth most fantasy points to running backs. If you own Kevin Smith, you have to monitor his status Sunday morning. Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams would make decent fantasy replacements.
Big leads tend to take the air out of balls, which sucked for WR Calvin Johnson owners.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Raiders give up the third most fantasy points to kick/punt returners. I was very surprised to see the Raiders in the bottom-half of the league in touchbacks. RB Stefan Logan had 119 Kickoff Return Yards and 28 Punt Return Yards last week, and he’ll have ample chances again this week.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Raiders give up the third fewest fantasy points to defensive ends. Cliff Avril is a Top 5 fantasy DE, so you have to start him.
DB Amari Spievey has at least 5 Solos plus PD’s in three consecutive games.
Past 4 weeks, Points Allowed: Lions have moved from 28th to 12th in fantasy points given up to quarterbacks. Stock up Carson Palmer.
So RB Darren McFadden’s injury was finally revealed. I guarantee you would have been more aggressive with trades in Week 8 if you knew Lisfranc was involved.
Past 3 weeks, Points Allowed: Lions have moved from 25th to 12th in fantasy points given up to wide receivers. Another good match-up for the Raiders’ receivers, and we still have nobody to depend on. At least Darrius Heyward-Bey has been involved over the past four weeks.
LB Rolando McClain would like to thank the Packers for putting in QB Matt Flynn last week, and of course Commissioner Roger Goodell for not suspending him for gun play.

New England at Denver

A Patriots’ running back is going to bust out soon. I hope you pick the right one.
Wes Welker can have three poor games to end the season and still be top ranked fantasy wide receiver.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Broncos give up the fourth fewest fantasy points to tight ends. Stock down Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Broncos give up the fifth most fantasy points to defensive ends. Stock up Andre Carter.
LB Jerod Mayo has been good in four of his past five games. I know you didn’t pay for “good”, but take it.
LB Rob Ninkovich has been good in six consecutive games, and you got him off the waiver wire.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Patriots give up the second most fantasy points to quarterbacks. If you believe in higher powers, you’ll say God has a plan for Tim Tebow and it touches everyone around him. I’m not religious, but I can’t argue the results. Non-believers, it like Dark Matter. You can’t see it, but you can deduce it’s there.
I got all giddy about RB Willis McGahee before he started piling up stats. I like him, but he’s surely not a must-start.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Patriots give up the most fantasy points to wide receivers. Stock up Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Patriots give up the fourth fewest fantasy points to defensive ends. Stock down Elvis Dumervil.
Past 5 weeks, Points Allowed: Patriots have moved from 7th to 26th in fantasy points given up to linebackers. Stock down DJ Williams and Von Miller.

NY Jets at Philadelphia

One of the games, QB Mark Sanchez won’t score and you’ll be smashing shit ‘cause he had another sub 200-yard game.
Shonn Greene has climbed into the Top 20 fantasy running backs due to consecutive strong games. Inconsistency is maddening.
When in doubt, start WR Plaxico Burress. He’s the best chance you have at one of the three TD games.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Eagles give up the fifth most fantasy points to linebackers. Stock up David Harris. Calvin Pace could be utilized.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Eagles give up the most fantasy points to safeties. Eric Smith may be boring, but he’s only had one clunker all year.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Jets give up the fifth fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. Stock down Michael Vick.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Jets give up the fifth fewest fantasy points to running backs. Stock down LeSean McCoy.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Jets give up the sixth fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Stock down Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson.
DE Jason Babin has more fantasy points and a better point-per-game average than DE Trent Cole. It only took 14 weeks to recognize it. Maybe I should fix my rankings.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Jets give up the most fantasy points to linebackers. Start Jamar Chaney despite his reduced role.

Cleveland at Arizona

QB Colt Mccoy is hearing jingle bells in his head, but it’s not because of Christmas. Thanks so much, you’ve been a great audience. Try the veal.
I wish the Browns had a reliable backup to RB Peyton Hillis ‘cause I’d be using him in one of my leagues.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Cardinals give up the sixth most fantasy points to wide receivers. Stock up Greg Little. Definitely start Josh Cribbs because the Cardinals give up the second most fantasy points to kick/punt returners.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Cardinals give up the most fantasy points to defensive ends. Start rookie Jabaal Sheard.
LB D’Qwell Jackson is the Top IDPer, and he’s got a good-sized lead. Nice bounce back season.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Browns give up the second fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. Bench whomeverArizonastarts.
I hope you have better options than RB Beanie Wells. He’s so streaky.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Browns give up the fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Larry Fitzgerald should be given a few fantasy points for his devastating block on Early Doucet’s TD.
Calais Campbell is a Top 5 fantasy DE. Another mild surprise.
LB Paris Lenon had his first poor game in a long time. Stick with him.
Rookie CB Patrick Peterson has 5 Solos in three consecutive games, and at least three in every game since Week 4. Throw in his special team yardage, and BAM!

Baltimore at San Diego

The last time QB Joe Flacco exploded (300+ yards, multiple TD’s, minimal turnovers) was Week 3.
Sweet cut in the backfield by RB Ray Rice.
Rookie WR Torrey Smith has more fantasy points over the past seven weeks than WR Anquan Boldin.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Chargers give up the fourth most fantasy points to linebackers. If you own Ray Lewis, pick up a Charger or Raven in case he’s inactive. The best option is Jameel McClain.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Chargers give up the second most fantasy points to cornerbacks. Stock up Lardarius Webb.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Ravens give up the fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. Stock down Philip Rivers.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Ravens give up the second fewest fantasy points to running backs. Stock down Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Ravens give up the seventh fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Stock down Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Ravens give up the second fewest fantasy points to tight ends. Stock down Antonio Gates.
LB Donald Butler’s consistency is nice, but his lack of turnovers and sacks is disappointing.

Pittsburgh at San Francisco

Disastrous time for a Monday night game for QB Ben Roethlisberger owners who are in the playoffs. You don’t want to be stuck with QB Charlie Batch, so play a Sunday quarterback.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: 49ers give up the fewest fantasy points to running backs. Stock down Rashard Mendenhall.
If the Steelers find a dynamic slot receiver next year, their offense could be scary good.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: 49ers give up the fifth fewest fantasy points to linebackers. Bench Lawrence Timmons, James Farrior, and Jason Worilds.
DB Ryan Clark should be an available option if you are a LB Patrick Willis owner.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Steelers give up the third fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks. Bench Alex Smith.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Steelers give up the sixth fewest fantasy points to running backs. Have you noticed that Frank Gore is outside the Top 15 fantasy running backs?
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Steelers give up the second fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Bench Michael Crabtree.
Season-to-date, Points Allowed: Steelers give up the third most fantasy points to defensive ends. Stock up Justin Smith.

Vegas, NFL Spreads Week 15, Season Record 24-26-2

Dallas (-7) at Tampa Bay
Seattle (+3.5) at Chicago
Oakland (+1) vs Detriot
Denver (+7.5) vs New England
NY Jets (+3) at Philadelphia
Arizona (-6.5) vs Cleveland

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